WHO'S THE BOSS?
Studs Terkel, the famous
Chicago author, interviewed hundreds of people about their jobs and put down
what they said in his 1972 book, Working.
He wrote, "This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about
violence to the spirit and body. It is about ulcers as well as accidents,
shouting matches as well as fistfights, nervous breakdowns, and daily
humiliations.
Surviving the day is triumph enough for the walking
wounded among many of us. It is about a search, too, for daily meaning as well
as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than
lethargy. In short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort
of dying. Immortality, too, is part of the quest. To be remembered was
the wish, spoken and unspoken, of the heroes and heroines of this book."[1]
In a 9 to 5 job world, heroes and heroines get
recognition for their work, such as first responders, firefighters, police,
doctors, nurses, teachers, military personnel, politicians, musicians, and
celebrities. We hold them in high honor and respect for their contributions to
society. But let's remember the unsung or unspoken heroes and heroines, such
as trash collectors who do janitorial jobs, construction workers, maids who
clean our houses, dock workers, etc.
Their work, often overlooked, is crucial to the
functioning of our society, and they deserve our utmost respect and
appreciation. How do you feel about your job? For some, work is their identity,
so they become workaholics. For others, work is a burden; hence, they seldom or
never work. Are you working hard or hardly working? Remember, a well-balanced
life is the key to happiness and fulfillment. In Ephesians 6:5-9 we will
discuss biblical work ethics, our approach to work, and the spirit-guided
relationships between employees and employers. The context of Ephesians 6:5-9 was written initially for
slaves and masters.
My friend Lee Eclov provided information on Slavery in
Greco-Roman times, which was quite different from our concept of Slavery. You
will find it at the end of my notes. Though our culture today differs from
theirs, this passage speaks to something still true: the complex relationship
between workers and bosses. As we read these verses, we notice how central
Christ is in these relationships. Before going further, let's examine what the
Bible says about work.
I.
Work is God-ordained.
We first read about
"work" when God placed Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and
entrusted them with this responsibility. They were to work it and take care of
it. (Gen 2:15) In NASB, it is read, To cultivate and to Keep it. Two Hebrew
words were used here. Abad means to work, labor, toil, till, plow,
serve, and worship. This may be how we got the proverb, "Work is
Worship first coined by Mahatma Gandhi, who said it to instill hard work among
the people of India. It compares the work of man with the worship of God.
The second Hebrew word, Shamar, means
to hedge around, keep, and guard. From these two words, God ordained man to cultivate
the ground and protect the eco-friendly environment. But all that changed after
the Fall of Man. God cursed the ground, saying, "Cursed is the
ground because of you; through painful toil, you will
eat food from it all
the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the
field. By the
sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken;
For dust you are,
and to dust you will return."
Gen 3:17-19.
In the Garden, God intended for man
to have something useful to do and enjoy it. After the Fall, Mom and Dad worked
the fields and raised the cattle, and the children attended household chores
for a long time. The rural work environment where everyone worked to survive
changed to employment with the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th
century.
Now, we live in a highly
competitive job environment where work, once meant to bring joy and
fulfillment, becomes a burden and struggle. At times, Christians find
themselves in a toxic work environment. How can we derive joy and satisfaction
in our work and transform the toxic environment during such
challenging situations? The Apostle Paul has some advice in Eph 6:5-9 on how to
make our God-ordained work rewarding for ourselves and others.
II.
Recognizing Who the Boss is makes our Jobs Joyful and fulfilling.
If you
work in a job, you might have a boss to whom you are accountable. In general,
most bosses are kind and reasonable. On rare occasions, we may have a boss who
is uncaring and unreasonable. We live in a culture where many think all
authority is evil and no one should tell you what you should or should not do.
You can't trust anyone, be your own boss, etc.
On the
contrary, Paul tells the followers of Christ in Ephesians 6:5, "In Vs. 5,
Paul says, "Obey your earthly masters with respect, fear, and sincerity of
heart, just as you would obey Christ." You can have
reasonable conversations about your work and the things you may disagree with.
But we do it respectfully. We submit to our leaders recognizing that God
appointed them, even when they mistreat us and are unreasonable. Psalm 75:6-7
Another
way we can respect our bosses is by doing our assigned work with a sincerity of
heart. You are not just doing things to check boxes and check out at the end of
the day. In everything you do, you strive for excellence as if you are doing it
unto the Lord. Paul's advice to Philippians might help change our unreasonable
bosses and toxic work environment.
"Do
everything without grumbling or arguing so you may become blameless and
pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then we
will shine among them like stars in the sky as we hold firmly to the word of
life." Phil 2:14-15. Paul not only advised Ephesian believers to respect
their bosses but also to serve them wholeheartedly.
III. Serving
others wholeheartedly as if we are serving the Lord.
Jesus,
while teaching his disciples not to be like overbearing gentile leaders, laid
out a principle of servant leadership. He said, "Just as the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as
a ransom for many." Matthew 20:27-28.
Jesus,
our servant King, should be our model in doing our work. Jesus was always
looking out for others. In her
book Why Work, Dorothy Sayer defines, "Work is the gracious expression of
creative energy in the service of others." Our primary motive for work is
to serve others, not make a living. Paul brings this principle home by saying
in Ephesians 6:7-8, "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the
Lord, not people because you know that the Lord will reward each one for
whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free."
Author and educator Howard Hendricks
sat in a plane that was delayed for takeoff. After a long wait, the passengers
became more and more irritated. Hendricks noticed how gracious one of the
flight attendants was as she spoke with them. After the plane finally took off,
he told the flight attendant how amazed he was at her poise and self-control
and said he wanted to write a letter of commendation for her to the airline.
The stewardess replied that she didn't work for the airline company but for
Jesus Christ. She said that just
before going to work, she and her husband prayed together that she would represent
Christ well."
From working as a flight attendant to
waiting on tables in a restaurant, from preaching on the pulpit to handling the
media, from homemaking to home cleaning, let's serve as if we are serving the
Lord, not people wholeheartedly. Seeing our sincere good works, God will reward
us. Paul also has some choice words for the bosses. They were to do their job
as God's will. They should treat their workers kindly and not threaten them. In
closing, Who's your boss? Our work will be fulfilling and rewarding when we
recognize that we serve a higher boss. Amen!
Slaves in the
Greco-Roman World of the New Testament
In his commentary on Ephesians, John Stott writes,
"Slavery seems to have been universal in the ancient world. A high
percentage of the population were slaves. 'It has been computed that in the
Roman Empire there were 60,000,000 slaves' (Barclay, p.212). They constituted
the workforce and included not only domestic servants and manual laborers but
educated people as well, like doctors, teachers, and administrators. Slaves
could be inherited or purchased or acquired in settlement of bad debt, and
prisons of war commonly became slaves." [The Message of Ephesians, p.150]
Nonetheless, slaves were not the
equals of their masters. Aristotle wrote that "a slave is a kind of
possession with a soul."
Dr. Timothy Keller said in a sermon
that Slavery in that day was "more like indentured servanthood." he
drew on the scholarship of Dr. Murray Harris (a member of VCL when he taught at
TEDS). Keller said, "He says that in Greco-Roman times, number one, slaves
were not distinguishable from anyone else by race, speech, or clothing. They
looked and lived like everyone else and were never segregated from the rest of
society. Number two, slaves were more educated than their owners in many cases
and many times held high managerial positions. Number three, from a financial
standpoint, slaves made the same wages as free laborers and, therefore, were
not themselves usually poor and often accrued enough personal capital to buy
themselves out. Number four, very few persons were slaves for life in the first
century. Most are expected to be emancipated after about ten years or by their
late thirties at the latest.
"In contrast, New World
slavery—17th, 18th, and 19th-century slavery—was race-based, and its default
mode was Slavery for life. Also, the African slave trade was [started] and
resourced through kidnapping, which the Bible unconditionally condemns in 1 Timothy 1:9-11 and Deuteronomy 24:7. Therefore, while
the early Christians, like Saint Paul … discouraged [1st-century slavery] …
saying to slaves, "get free if you can," [they] didn't go on a
campaign to end it. [But] 18th and 19th century Christians, when faced with New
World-style slavery, did work for its complete abolition because it could
not be squared in any way with biblical teaching.
"So, the point is that when you
hear somebody say, 'The Bible condones slavery,' you say, 'No, it didn't—not
the way you and I define 'Slavery. It's not talking about that.'"
Timothy
Keller, in the sermon Literalism:
Isn't the Bible Historically Unreliable and Regressive? Redeemer
Presbyterian Church, New York, New York (preached 11-5-06); source: Murray
Harris, Slave of Christ (IVP,
2001)
